Yamato Restaurant may reopen its doors today after being temporarily closed since Thursday because of a reported “heavy cockroach infestation.”
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials found the infestation during a health inspection on Thursday and ordered the Japanese restaurant, located on 1099 Westwood Blvd., to close for 48 hours and address the problem, said LeTaun Cotton, an environmental health service manager for the health department.
The health department is required to ask businesses to close temporarily for health violations that require extermination, Cotton said.
The manager at Yamato declined to comment on the closure.
A follow-up inspection of Yamato was scheduled for Saturday, when a health inspector was meant to confirm the facility is safe, Cotton said.
Public Health officials could not be reached to comment on results from Saturday’s inspection.
Many members of the UCLA community said news about the cockroach infestation changed their view of the restaurant.
“If they don’t take care of their sanitation, what can you expect from their food quality?” said Sam Shirazi, a UCLA alumnus who visited the restaurant frequently as a student and continued to eat there after graduating in 2010.
Before it can reopen, the restaurant must eliminate all signs of cockroaches ““ including fecal remnants ““ in any cracks or crevices where the bugs might be living, Cotton said.
Once the problem is rectified, some students said they plan to continue eating at Yamato.
“It’s in Westwood. In the middle of a city these things happen,” said fourth-year economics student Jimi Younis. “If they fix the problem, I would eat there again.”
Alex Chung, the manager of Yamato, said the restaurant plans to reopen tonight.
Email Donnelly at edonnelly@media.ucla.edu.